Pinhole Shopping List

[pinhole_dreamer]

I have the camera body made. (Corrugated cardboard, glue and my favorite, electrical tape!)

The body fits a spool of 120...so the pinhole plate (pop can) will be about 2.5 inches away. I'll need some black foam to glue in there to make my square. (Dumb question. I SUCK rocks at math. How far apart should I space the foam pieces? The body is 6 inches wide and around 3.5 inches deep.)

Nuts/bolts/washers - small-ish.

A 1/4-20 thing so I can use it on my tripod. (Yes, I typed THING!)

I have the black paint. Pinhole made.

I have a safety pin that I can stick (head down) to forward the film. If I want to be fancy about it, some red plastic for the window to see which frame I'm on.

Rubber bands to keep the body held together. (photo's of further construction will come in the future.)

And some super-strength duct tape...to tape my 14 year old's mouth shut. If I hear anymore Steam play by plays I'm going to finally go completely off my rocker.

All right, folks.

Anything I'm forgetting? I'll be going to the hardware store and craft store this week.

[Toffle]

All right, folks.

Anything I'm forgetting? I'll be going to the hardware store and craft store this week.

Yes... World Pinhole Day was yesterday.

[John Koehrer]

The 1/4-20 thing is called a "T" nut at the local hardware emporium.
Red plastic for the window or a simple flap over the counter window, or both.
Do you have something that acts as a light trap under your"film advance" to prevent fogging?

[pinhole_dreamer]

Yes... World Pinhole Day was yesterday.

Yeah, I know that. I just want to make another camera!

[pinhole_dreamer]

The 1/4-20 thing is called a "T" nut at the local hardware emporium.
Red plastic for the window or a simple flap over the counter window, or both.
Do you have something that acts as a light trap under your"film advance" to prevent fogging?

I have no plastic as of yet...but the flap idea was another one I was tossing around. As for the film advance, I have a plethora of black rubber washers that I discovered in my son's tools/fix-it box. Needless to say, I took them and left $2 in the box with a note. He thought it was funny that I actually left the money to replace them.

[JudyS]

Let me just warn you:

Shopping list--

two electric drills
two sanders
bench grinder
a plunge router
the other kind of router
a table saw
a jigsaw
lots and lots of wood
buckets of glue
black paint out the wazoo
a car that drives automatically to Lowe's and Home Depot
at least four clamps for every join you try to make
and yes, t-nuts.

OK, that should get you going.

I do know how much fun you are having!

[pinhole_dreamer]

Judy, what's wrong with just using cardboard, paint and glue? lol! Oh...also wood plugs or whatever they're called. They're doing a nice job of holding the 120 spools in place. I'll end up making a wooden camera one of these days. Why two drills?

What's a bench grinder, a plunge router?

And does a husband work instead of the car that drives automatically to Lowe's or Home Depot? ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Right now, I think that once I see how well the cardboard one works, I'll start with making one out of more permanent materials as this one is a test run to see what changes need to be made. I do the same when making patterns for a 70cm resin doll that I have as there are hardly any patterns for her model (Ms. Boobs-a-Plenty!) and I don't feel like dropping $65+ for an outfit I can make for $10.

[John Koehrer]

Hey PD,
Check out Rockler.com or Harbor freight for pictures of all the neat tools. =@)
Get some for your husband's birthday to get even for the vacum cleaner on Valentines day.

[DWThomas]

My goodness, that list from JudyS sounds like an awful long list of tools. I built a pretty respectable wooden 4x5 pinhole camera last month with little more than a circular saw (mine is a radial arm, not table, but a handsaw in a miter box could have done most of it), a drill press and some files and sandpaper. I have personally seen a guy at a local historical festival making wooden boxes with dovetailed corner joints using naught but simple hand tools. A drill press does some things more easily and more accurately than a hand drill, the same with a power saw, but generally a little patience can substitute for a lot of $$$.

I used fat rubber bands which I believe came from bunches of broccoli to retain my filmholder. The bands were blue, and an occasional visitor to my PBase galleries commented that he thinks the red bands from bunches of carrots produce sharper results.

[pinhole_dreamer]

@ DW Thomas : We have a table saw and a miter box...misc drills and bits for them, a handsaw, files and lots of sandpaper plus a dremel. I think that's a pretty good start right there. (Not to mention a ton of screwdrivers of various sizes.)

@ John Koehrer : I already got the vacuum cleaner for Christmas! lol! Whenever we end up at Lowes or Menards or Home Depot and Harbor Freight, there's always some neat-o tool we bring home with us and gets good use.

P.S. How well do you think the fat pink rubber bands would work? lol!